11 Essential Tools to Stay Focused for 10+ Hours a Day
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses various tools and techniques to improve focus and productivity. It introduces the Pomodoro Technique and apps like Forest for time management, emphasizes the importance of tracking time spent on meaningful tasks, and suggests combating distractions through mindfulness and apps like OneSec and Opal. The video also highlights the effectiveness of making work enjoyable through background music, tracking progress, and building a supportive community.
Takeaways
- 🔥 The Pomodoro Technique, devised by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, is a productivity method that breaks work into intervals of focus time followed by short breaks.
- 🌲 The Forest app gamifies the focus session by planting a virtual tree during the work interval, which dies if the user gets distracted, promoting a fun and community-driven approach to productivity.
- 📊 The Anatomy of Work Index by Asana reveals that a significant portion of work time is consumed by coordination, leaving less time for strategic planning and skill-based tasks.
- ⏰ Manual and automatic time tracking tools can drastically improve focus by making individuals more aware of how they spend their time and encouraging them to dedicate time to meaningful tasks.
- 📝 The 'Quest Log' approach to manual time tracking involves keeping a simple log of tasks and focus time, which helps in making progress visible and encourages consistency.
- ⚡ Toggle and Rise are tools for time tracking with features for project management and automatic time categorization, helping users to stay focused on what matters most.
- 💡 Mindfulness and apps like One Sec can significantly reduce smartphone addiction and distractions by prompting users to take a moment before engaging with potentially distracting apps.
- ✨ Opal and grayscale mode are powerful tools for combating the addictive design of social media apps, reducing their appeal and the likelihood of distraction.
- 📲 Utilizing focus mode on devices and strategically allowing only essential notifications can create a distraction-free environment conducive to deep work.
- ⚽ Finding ways to make work more fun, like integrating play, recognizing progress, and engaging with a community, can greatly enhance focus and productivity.
Q & A
What is the Pomodoro Technique and how did it originate?
-The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes long, separated by short breaks. It was developed in the late 1980s by a student named Francesco Cirillo who was struggling to focus on his studies. He used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to time his study sessions, and the method has since been popularized and implemented in various productivity apps.
What is the Forest app and how does it help with focus?
-The Forest app is a productivity tool that gamifies the process of focusing on tasks. Users set a timer for a designated work session, and a virtual tree is planted during that time. If the user refrains from using their phone and stays focused, the tree grows; if they get distracted and leave the app, the tree dies. This creates a sense of responsibility and encourages users to stay focused to prevent the tree from dying, while also visually representing their focus time with a growing forest of trees.
What does the Anatomy of Work Index by Asana reveal about workers' time allocation?
-The Anatomy of Work Index, a survey conducted by Asana, reveals that a significant portion of workers' time is spent on non-essential tasks. For instance, the 2019 report indicated that workers spent only 13% of their time on strategic planning and 27% on skill-based work, with the rest of the time allocated to work coordination and other tasks. The report also highlighted that 3.6 hours per week are lost to unnecessary meetings and 62% of the workday is spent on repetitive, mundane tasks.
How does manual time tracking work and what are some methods for doing it?
-Manual time tracking involves consciously monitoring and recording the time spent on various tasks. One method described in the script is using a document called a 'quest log' to log activities and the time spent on them. Another method mentioned is using YouTube's timer feature to track focus time. The key is to be intentional about tracking time spent on tasks to ensure focus on important work.
What is the Toggle app and how does it differ from manual time tracking?
-The Toggle app is a tool for manual time tracking that allows users to log time spent on different projects or tasks. It differs from the basic manual time tracking method described in the script because it provides a more structured way to record time, categorizes tasks under projects, and generates reports that show how much time is spent on each task or project.
How does the Rise app work in terms of automatic time tracking?
-Rise is an automatic time tracking app that uses AI to monitor and categorize how users spend their time on their computers. It tracks which apps and websites are used and for how long, then assigns categories based on past activity. Users can review the data to understand how their time is allocated across different tasks and adjust their habits to improve focus and productivity.
What is the One Sec app and how does it help combat smartphone distractions?
-The One Sec app is a mindful productivity tool that requires users to pause and take a deep breath before opening distracting apps. This brief moment of mindfulness allows users to reflect on whether they truly want to use the app at that moment, potentially reducing unnecessary smartphone use and helping them stay focused on their tasks.
How can using grayscale mode on your phone help reduce digital distractions?
-Grayscale mode removes color from the display, turning it black and white. This makes visually stimulating apps like Instagram and TikTok less appealing, reducing the likelihood of getting distracted by scrolling through them. It was originally designed for accessibility purposes but has proven effective in helping users minimize screen time and digital distractions.
What is the Focus mode feature on Apple devices and how does it help with focus?
-Focus mode on Apple devices is a feature that allows users to temporarily block notifications and distractions while they work. By enabling Focus mode, users can choose to allow only certain people or apps to send notifications, effectively reducing interruptions and helping them maintain concentration on their tasks.
What are the three Ps (Play, Power, People) mentioned in the script and how do they contribute to making work more fun?
-The three Ps refer to Play, Power, and People. Play involves finding ways to turn work into a more enjoyable, playful experience. Power is about taking ownership of the work process and making progress visible, similar to tracking experience points in video games. People refers to tapping into the energy and motivation of a community or group, working together to enhance productivity and enjoyment.
Outlines
🕒 Time Management Tools for Focus
The paragraph discusses various tools that can enhance an individual's ability to maintain focus on work or studies for extended periods. It categorizes these tools into three groups: time management aids for focus sessions, tools to combat distractions, and those that make work more enjoyable. The origin of the Pomodoro Technique is highlighted, along with the effectiveness of apps like Forest that incorporate gamification to encourage focused work sessions. The importance of non-distractive environments is emphasized, and the community aspect of tracking progress is mentioned as a motivational factor.
📝 Manual Time Tracking Methods
This paragraph delves into methods of manually tracking time spent on meaningful work. It describes the process of using a document, referred to as a 'quest log', to record time spent on important tasks. The technique involves noting down the start time, the task performed, and the duration spent on it. The benefits of this approach are twofold: it helps track time spent on significant projects and provides a sense of progress and accomplishment. The paragraph also mentions the use of Google Docs for this purpose and the positive impact of this tracking method on productivity.
⏱️ Automatic Time Tracking Apps
The focus of this paragraph is on automatic time tracking tools, particularly the app 'Rise', which is noted for its ability to track time across different platforms. It categorizes activities based on past behavior and provides a detailed breakdown of how time is spent during work hours. The paragraph also discusses the manual time tracking features of 'Rise' and the importance of categorizing tasks for better focus and productivity. The effectiveness of such tools is emphasized in ensuring that time is spent intentionally on projects that move the needle forward.
🚫 Combating Distractions with Mindfulness and App Blocking
This paragraph examines tools and strategies to combat distractions, such as the 'one sec' app, which promotes mindfulness before opening distracting apps. It also discusses the 'Opal' app, which is known for its robust app-blocking capabilities. The paragraph highlights the addictive nature of social media apps and suggests using grayscale mode on phones as a deterrent to mindless scrolling. The effectiveness of brief mindfulness training in reducing smartphone addiction is also mentioned, drawing on a study conducted in China.
🎮 Making Work Fun: The Power of Play
The paragraph emphasizes the importance of making work enjoyable to improve focus and productivity. It introduces the concept of 'play power' and suggests asking oneself 'what would this look like if it were fun?' as a means to transform work into a more playful and engaging activity. The paragraph also touches on the use of background music as a tool to make work feel more fun and the impact of gamification on increasing focus. The idea is that if work can be made to feel good, focus will naturally improve.
🤝 Leveraging People for Enhanced Focus
The final paragraph discusses the power of community and collaboration in enhancing focus. It talks about the author's experience of working with friends during medical school and the positive impact of co-working sessions. The paragraph introduces 'productivity lab', an online community for productivity enthusiasts, and the benefits of daily Zoom co-working sessions. The idea is that surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals who are focused on personal development and productivity can make work more enjoyable and energizing, thereby improving focus.
📚 Conclusion and Resources
The paragraph wraps up the discussion on tools for improving focus by summarizing the key points from the video series. It mentions the five mistakes that ruin focus, five simple habits to increase focus, and the introduction of the author's book on Feelgood productivity. The paragraph provides links to other videos in the series and encourages the viewer to explore these resources for further understanding and improvement of focus and productivity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Pomodoro Technique
💡Forest App
💡Distraction
💡Time Tracking
💡Mindfulness
💡Rise
💡Focus Mode
💡Play
💡Power
💡Community
Highlights
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo to improve focus and productivity.
The Forest app is a gamified tool that encourages focus by allowing users to plant a virtual tree that grows as they work, but dies if they get distracted by their phone.
The Anatomy of Work Index by Asana reveals that workers spend only 13% of their time on strategic planning and 27% on skill-based work, with a significant amount of time wasted on coordination and unnecessary meetings.
Time tracking tools like manual time logs and apps like Toggle and Rise can help individuals focus on important tasks and reduce time spent on unproductive activities.
Mindfulness techniques, such as the one-sec app, can help reduce smartphone addiction and distractions by prompting users to take a deep breath before opening distracting apps.
Opal is an app-blocking software that disables distracting apps on a user's phone, helping to combat digital distractions and improve focus.
Grayscale mode on smartphones can make social media apps less visually appealing and help reduce screen time and digital distractions.
Focus mode on devices can block notifications and distractions, allowing users to concentrate better on their work.
The concept of 'play' involves finding ways to make work feel more enjoyable and less like a chore, which can improve focus and productivity.
Background music can be an effective tool in making work feel more playful and enjoyable, thus improving focus.
Tracking progress, such as word count for writers, can provide a sense of achievement and make work feel more engaging.
Building a community of like-minded individuals, such as through co-working sessions or online platforms, can make work more enjoyable and help maintain focus.
The book 'Feelgood Productivity' explores various strategies to make work feel good and improve focus, including the use of play, power, and people.
The video series discusses common mistakes that ruin focus, simple habits to improve focus, and tools to reduce distractions, providing a comprehensive guide to enhancing productivity.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of not allowing digital distractions to interfere with productivity, and the effectiveness of using tools and strategies to combat them.
Transcripts
so there's a bunch of different tools
that we can use to help improve our
ability to stay focused on our work or
our studies for an extended period of
time and we're going to split them up
into three the first group is tools that
help with time management of our Focus
session the second is tools that help us
combat distractions and the third type
is tools that we can use to help make
our work a little bit more fun so let's
start with the first category in the
late 1980s a student called Franchesco
cerillo was struggling to focus on his
studies and complete his assignments
feeling overwhelmed he asked himself to
commit to short bursts of focus study
time he found a tomato shaped kitchen
timer he set it to 25 minutes and
started to work these are in fact the
humble origins of the infamous
productivity technique the pomodora
method now ever since our friend
Franchesco put a name to the technique
there have been a bunch of apps and
tools that have been created around this
idea that you set aside a certain amount
of time for work and then you take a
small rest afterwards and in my opinion
the most effective of these apps don't
just help you figure out how to time 25
minutes and 5 minutes because you can
just do that with a clock the most
effective apps incorporate some aspect
of gamification and that leads us on to
Tool number one which is a tool that I
used to use extensively in medical
school and that is an app called Forest
which you can download on your phone and
the idea here is that you set a timer
for let's say 25 minutes and in that
time a tree is planted a virtual tree
now you're supposed to focus on your
work and not check your phone and so the
tree keeps on going but if you get
distracted and go on your phone and
leave the app then the tree will die now
I first heard about this when I was in
my fourth year of med school where
everyone was talking about it and I had
some friends who swore by it and I
thought initially it was a bit gimmicky
because like who cares if a tree dies or
a tree doesn't die but then I actually
started using using it and I realized oh
this is actually kind of fun it was nice
because it let me time my work sessions
which is really good it was nice because
it actively discouraged me to go on my
phone which was how I used to get
distracted back in the day and thirdly
there was an element of like Community
around this where me Katherine and
Marcus my friends from med school we'd
sort of like WhatsApp each other to be
like how many trees did you plant today
I planted 10 trees today oh I only did
eight oh I'm going to go for nine
tomorrow it just created this sense of
gamification in community around this
idea of studying for a med school exam
and then over time as you plant more
trees it ends up growing into a fledged
forest and it's just a really nice
gamified and cute and wholesome way of
tracking your focus sessions so there is
a company called assana that makes
project management tools and every year
they produce something called the
anatomy of work index and for this they
survey around 10,000 knowledge workers
to find out what's working for them and
what isn't now every year the results
change a little bit and before and after
the pandemic things were quite different
but one thing does seem to be true every
year which is that we waste a lot of
time at work for example the 2019 report
shows that workers spend 2third of their
time on work coordination which leaves
only 13% for strategic planning and 27%
for the skill-based job that they were
actually hired to do the most recent
version of the report also is pretty
grim and it shows that on average 3.6
hours are lost per week to unnecessary
meetings and 62% of the workday is lost
apparently to repetitive mundane tasks
so the Big Challenge when it comes to
focus because this is a video series
about focus is how do we make sure that
we are focusing on things that are
actually important and move the needle
rather than these tedious admin based
tasks that generally tend not to move us
forward or they do at best is tend to
maintain where we're currently at and
there is a general category of tools
that I think is super helpful for this
and that is tools that help you track
your time now we talked about Forest how
you can track like the amount of time
you spend in work sessions but the point
of these other tools is that you can
track how much time you're actually
spending working on the things that are
most meaningful to you so within this
category we've got manual time tracking
and we have automatic time tracking so
let's start with manual now there are a
bunch of different ways to do this but
all of them are basically based around
the principle that you want to be able
to track how much time you're actually
putting on the things that matter to you
the way that I've been doing this for
quite a while is and I've done this over
the years in various different formats
but this is the most recent iteration is
this document that I call my quest log
just because it's a little bit more fun
that way and what you can see is like
from I started doing this in this
version on the second of Feb because I
realized in January that I was spending
a lot of time doing random crap that was
not actually time spent focusing on what
truly mattered to me and so for example
you can see here on the 3D of February
made reasonable progress on the
productivity course wrote some stuff
about dealing with inbound updated
projects list blah blah blah Total Focus
Time 1 hour 0 minutes 48 seconds and the
way I got to that and I've mentioned
this a few times you might be familiar
with the tactic is I go on YouTube and I
open up one of these random peaceful day
at Hogwarts type playlists these are
usually like 3 hours long these days the
algorithm knows me so well that as soon
as I open up YouTube during like working
hours it will know that like I'm looking
for this sort of Ambience type music and
the top left thing the first thing I see
on my YouTube homepage will always be
either Harry Potter Ambience or Hogwarts
Ambience or Lord of the Rings Ambience
or Skyrim Ambience you know one of these
random playlists and what I'll do is
I'll put on one of these playlists I'll
set myself an intention I'm going to
work on productivity lab I put on one of
these videos put my headphones in or
play it out loud or whatever and then
when I find myself losing focus I will
go on YouTube and I'll see oh for
example 46 minutes and 51 seconds have
elapsed that's cool then I will go on my
quest log and I will type in what I did
in that time and how much time has
elapsed so you can see here I did it 50
minutes on the 3rd of February 55
minutes on copy for productivity lab on
the first floor of the British library
in London a little distraction from
random slack stuff but landed on a
reasonably solid 5p framework for
productivity lab awaiting feedback from
Gareth and the team and this was on the
6th of February and if you're interested
in how I do this uh if you if you go on
Google Docs and you do at now it gives
you the time the date and the time at
the current Tim stamp anyway on 10th of
February I did 1 hour 26 minutes on the
productivity quiz on score app you can
see here on the 1st of March I did 1
hour 17 working on The Branding and
nomenclature for productivity lab using
the new Alchemy idea 37 minutes working
on the new accelerator offer for our
parttime YouTuber accelerator and 28
minutes working on more naming and
branding for productivity lab these are
the important projects that I'm trying
to move forward in my my business in
particular and if I didn't have this
Quest log where I was tracking the
amount of focus time I'm spending on
doing these things I would probably end
up doing random stuff like
professionally replying to slack
messages and emails for the whole day
because I could in fact spend all day on
slack and on emails but then I wouldn't
actually get anything done so being able
to track your time in this way this is
like a really lowkey low friction free
you don't need any any apps you don't
need to pay for anything literally you
just need to create a new Google doc
which by the way is a little hack you
can do docs. new and that will just
create a new Google doc you can call
call this your quest log or whatever you
want to call it I like Quest log and
then you can just say spent 15 minutes
filming the video for Focus series or
something and then tomorrow you could be
like whatever you can be like 55 minutes
on studying for chemistry exam or
whatever the thing is that you're trying
to do it's it's almost like you're
building software and you're sort of
doing this little change log of like
these are all the things that I did and
the really nice thing about this is it's
a great tool to a track your time but B
feel the sense of progress this feeling
that you're making progress this is one
of the concepts of power that I talk
about in Chapter 2 of the book if you
want to check out the book by the way if
you have checked out the book I would
really appreciate an Amazon review that
would be nice but when it comes to
trying to make our productivity feel
good a big part of it is feeling the
sense of power feeling a sense that
we're making progress and I personally
find for me tracking my time and making
sure that I'm spending time on these
Focus things every single day or at
least most work days I find is massively
helpful for feeling the sense of power
and progress in whatever I'm doing so
this was a very low-key manual way of
tracking your time there is other app
that you can use that I find quite
helpful for manually tracking time and
that is something called toggle now my
team have been using this for like years
uh but I only recently started using it
cuz I wanted to try it out for this
video to see would would this be any
more or less helpful than just doing
like Google doc which is what I've
always done in the past and toggle is
basically an app I don't think it's free
I do think you have to pay for it but
you can find the details on the website
they're not sponsoring this video in any
capacity togle is nice because it's
basically time tracking plus projects so
you can see for example on the 8th of
March I was flying to New York you can
see here I SP spent 2 minutes doing my
am5 morning routine framework I spent 35
minutes working on the offer and
fulfillment DOC for the YouTuber
accelerator I spent 40 minutes doing
sales page copywriting for productivity
lab I spent 10 minutes on journaling and
I spent 36 minutes working on the vision
DOC for my website al.com that's useful
to know on the 11th of March I was
flying back from New York and so you can
see I spent 1 hour and 11 minutes
working on Sunday Snippets my newsletter
and then they've got reports and stuff
so you can see okay how much time are
you actually spending on your major
project the way that it would work in
this context I would say filming YouTube
video for channel uh on Focus
tools I could I could tag that with a
project the YouTube channel and I can
give it a tag of filming for whatever
that's worth and I can hit play and now
my time has started to be tracked and
then I can just do the task for however
long I want and then the crucial thing
is I have to remember to click stop I've
I've done this a few times where it's
like I've remembered the following day
and it's like 18 hours I'm like oh when
did I stop and I have to sort of back
date but you have to remember to stop
the timer so you stop the timer and then
it becomes like an entry in your little
projects time log type thing you can use
it if you want I tried it out a few days
ago because I knew I was making this
video and I wanted to see is it actually
helpful I've been using it for like
three days personally but there are
various members of my of my team that
have literally been using toggle for
years because we have a team
subscription to it so you can try it out
if you like but honestly if you if
you're new to time tracking trying to
remember to start and stop a timer uh
might be a bit much and so I personally
would recommend starting with like the
YouTube video and Google doc strategy
and if you want to get fancier you can
then decide to use a fancier app if your
heart calls to it for whatever reason so
those were tools for manually tracking
your time now this is really helpful for
making sure that you're spending time
intentionally on the things that most
move the needle for me the projects that
I need to work on that most move the
deal right now are productivity lab this
new product or part time YouTuber
accelerator and my website these are
like the three things that I'm really
focusing on right now and if I didn't
track how much time I was actually
spending working on these it's very
possible I can just get by months by
just doing other random stuff because
there's always more stuff to do but I
really need to make focused progress on
these most important things so then
that's a nice thing about manual time
tracking it allows you to set intention
and it allows you to be honest with
yourself cuz really you know what they
say what gets measured gets managed and
you can't improve something if you don't
measure it if you are measuring the
amount of time you're spending working
on this stuff it's basically guaranteed
that just even having visibility of what
that time is it's basically guaranteed
that you're going to improve your
ability to focus on that thing whereas
if you don't track your time it's very
easy to just convince yourself oh I was
working 6 hours today 8 hours today
whatever that might be and you might
have just been doing random crap and not
actually focused on the thing that
matters cuz this whole series is about
how we focus so those were apps for
manual time tracking there are also apps
for automatic time tracking and the one
that I've been using for this since like
2021 is called rise rise are
incidentally sponsoring this video and
I'm also an investor in Rise I've been
using the product for a few months in
like 2022 and then I reached out to them
saying hey can I invest in your product
cuz I think it's really cool basically
rise is automatic time tracking it's for
Windows and it's for mac and it's
actually crossplatform for example if
you're switching between Windows and Mac
like I was doing back when I was writing
my book it will literally track your
time across both and the nice thing
about this is what it does is that it
figures out what app you're using in the
moment or what website you happen to be
on and it will categorize what you're
doing based on what you've done in the
past and what it thinks that thing is
categorized under this is how I spent my
time in February you can see that I
spent 21% of my time focusing my average
work week was 34 hours average work day
was 7 hours and I spent 44% of my time
in video conferencing 12% of my time
writing and for me I've defined writing
as Google Docs ulyses tana and Apple
notes you can see this is the amount of
time I spent in all of these I've
defined documenting as basically notion
so you can see how spent about 10 hours
in February writing stuff on notion you
can see I spent 9 hours and 56 minutes
on design so I spent 8 hours and 58
minutes drawing boxes on pages in figma
because that is design and then there is
an uncategorized thing so essentially it
figures out it figures out like what
were you doing that it doesn't have a
category for so zoom. us is obviously
video conferencing and its AI thingy
does a good job of Skys scanner is
travel use motion is actually scheduling
Jet Blue is travel flat icon is design
yep good and so it does a pretty good
job of tracking your time across these
things automatically but every now and
then you just look through your
uncategorized list and you just update
the rules and then it updates moving
forward pt. Community is our community
for our YouTuber Academy that's
community building and let's say Tim
blog is learning and so now I feel good
because now very few things are
uncategorized so I I like to categorize
things in this way rise also does have
manual time tracking as well which I was
using back in 2023 when I was working on
the book you can see in April on the
Saturday the 1st of April I spent 4
hours and 35 minutes on edits for the
book for example and actually now that I
think of it I really should just use
rise for manual time tracking instead of
toggle but I wanted to try toggle
because my team uses it for very team
related stuff but anyway it's like you
can use apps like this if you really
want to for automatic time tracking but
for me it's really manual time tracking
that's the thing that moves the needle
when it comes to focusing so whichever
app or tool or no tool you decide to use
for this time tracking thing if you are
currently struggling with Focus I can
basically guarantee that if you start
tracking your time and start tracking
how many minutes or hours you're
spending actually focusing on things and
what you're focusing on it's almost
guaranteed to just improve your ability
to focus in one easy move by the way if
you're enjoying this video then you
might like to check out my completely
free 7-Day Focus crash course if you
head over to focus crashcourse tocom you
can enter your email and sign up and
it's a series of emails over 7 days
where each email has some principles
strategies and tools that can help you
improve your ability to focus it's
completely free if you struggle to focus
then you might as well check it out and
you can always unsubscribe at any point
we don't spam any of that kind of stuff
Focus crashcourse tocom completely free
okay now we come to the second category
of tools to improve our focus and that
is tools that will help us combat
distractions now to an extent time
tracking tools help you combat
distractions because what I find is that
why while I'm tracking my time I'm just
less likely to get distracted if I've
gone on Rise and I've said okay I'm
going to spend the next I don't know
hour working on my book or whatever then
I do feel kind of guilty if I cuz I'm
lying to myself if I then do other
things so time tracking itself is a
reasonable tool for avoiding
distractions if you want to go down that
route but there are a few other tools
that can also help with the whole
distraction thing cuz that's a big thing
that helps derail people's Focus okay so
in 2002 some researchers who were based
in China set out to answer the following
question what is the relationship
between mindfulness and smartphone use
they recruited a bunch of college
students from a university in Beijing
now half of them were assigned to a
mindfulness intervention where they did
a 30- minute single session mindfulness
training and the other half listened to
some neutral news for 30 minutes now
after these interventions they were
asked to what extent they agreed with
statements like I feel uncomfortable if
I don't use my phone for a long time in
class I can't concentrate on listening
because of phone calls or text messages
I'd rather choose to chat on my phone
than face Toof face communication and
the researchers used their answers to
these questions to measure their
smartphone addiction now what's amazing
is that after that brief 30-minute
mindfulness training which was just 30
minutes oneoff the treatment group I.E
the group that got the mindfulness
intervention felt more in control of
their smartphone use and scored lower on
the smartphone addiction scale and the
takeaway here is that little doses of
mindfulness can go a long way when it
comes to avoiding distraction and this
gets us on to an app that I've talked
about in the past that's called one sec
now one sec is a mindful productivity
app that asks you to take a moment to
take a deep breath before opening any
distracting apps the way it works is
that you install the app and then you
decide which apps you want to activate
one second on and so let's say I
activated on Instagram now whenever I
click on Instagram it will pop up with a
thing that says take a deep breath and
you can do 1 second or 2 seconds or 5
seconds I think 5 seconds is a good
amount of time because in those 5
Seconds you can really just be mindful
and ask yourself do I really want to be
using this app right now if the answer
is yes you use the app if the answer is
no then you decide to not use the app
next we have which is a new tool that
admittedly I have not used but a bunch
of my team members use it and absolutely
swear by it and it is a tool called opal
which is like the most intense app app
blocking software you've ever heard of
that literally just disables apps on
your phone you can't even access them
and like most people don't know the
workaround if you install these apps
that like help you combat distractions
and stuff you can always like work
around them whereas opal apparently is
really good and like it's very robust
and so for example Tintin one of my team
members has opal automatically set for
all distracting apps after 9:00 p.m. and
so he literally cannot open these apps
on his phone after 9:00 p.m. and so just
ends up going to bed on time and all
these good things happen in his life
because of using something like opal so
if you find yourself getting distracted
by apps and you would like a kind of
Sledgehammer of a tool to just stop you
from accessing them then opal is pretty
good for that now social media apps are
obviously designed to be as addictive as
possible and that means apps like Tik
Tok and Instagram are ridiculously
visually stimulating and the worrying
thing is that because these apps are
designed so well with literally an army
of thousands of developers trying to
make them more and more addictive we
don't even realize the subtle features
that hook us in and keep us scrolling so
check out this Tik Tok screen for
example the video is in full screen and
on top of that they've got really strong
use of color and very conveniently
placed buttons to get you to keep on
scrolling now one pretty effective way
of combating this particular distraction
is grayscale mode on your phone which
basically turns your phone black and
white and that unsurprisingly makes
scrolling on Instagram and Tik Tok a lot
less visually appealing this feature is
actually part of the accessibility
settings on most phones which means it
was originally designed to help people
with problems of color vision but it
turns out it actually had a broader
impact in terms of helping people even
without color vision problems to reduce
their screen time and minimize digital
distractions if for example you're on an
iPhone you can you can go in settings
accessibility display and text size
color filters and once you're there you
can switch on color filters and then
select a gray scale you could also give
it an accessibility shortcut if you want
and that lets you quickly toggle on and
off gray scale depending on how
distracted you feel in a given moment
again being honest this is not something
that I personally routinely use although
Angus who's the general manager of my
business uses gray scale mode all the
time when he finds himself on the social
media apps quite a lot I just want to
share some of these tools that some of
which I find helpful some of which my
team and other friends find helpful cuz
all of these are basically experiments
I'm going to talk about a lot in feeli
good productivity
every productivity hack tool strategy
these are all just experiments so try
them out see if they Vibe with you and
if you find something that Vibes with
you great Stik with that for me I
personally find time tracking is
ridiculously helpful for me I use one
sec in times where I feel like I'm
getting spending too much time on
Instagram or Tik Tok and I kind of want
to dampen that down but for me broadly
time tracking and finding a way to make
my work actually feel good those are
like the two major needle movers when it
comes to helping me focus a little bit
better the other tool that I use all the
time whenever it comes to doing anything
that requires focus is focus mode on my
phone and my Mac and my iPad and my
Apple watch now this might sound obvious
but it amazes me when I casually look
over the shoulders of people on their
laptops and stuff even members of my
team when they're supposed to be sitting
there doing work they will always have
notifications and I'm like what the hell
is going on because you can just turn on
Focus mode a shortcut happens to be if
you hold option and you click the time
on a Mac for example that will turn on
Focus mode it will turn on do not
disturb mode and that means you're not
going to see any notifications and now
when I forget to turn Focus mode on and
I'm doing something and I see
notifications I'm just like why am I
saying notifications let me turn those
off immediately because seeing any kind
of notification will take you outside of
the focus mode that you're trying to be
in and will throw you into this like
melstrom of distractions that are coming
at you from all angles which is why if
you're actually trying to do focused
work turn off all the notifications you
can also enable exceptions to the
notifications so in my case my
girlfriend and my mom and my brother and
my sister-in-law and my grandma these
are the only five people who have the
ability to message me when I'm on Focus
modes anything else that comes in from
any other app I'm just not even going to
see it and therefore I have no chance to
get distracted from it whenever I'm
trying to focus my phone is either in my
pocket like it is now or it's face down
in front of me or it's not even face
down in front of me I'll grab my phone
and Chuck it onto the sofa behind me so
that I'm not distracted by my phone I
was hanging out in the British Library
the other day I you know they had this
like fantasy fiction exhibition I was
like having look around and I decided to
go in there to do some work as I
recorded in my focus log everyone there
was like really like looking as if they
were focused but I was looking around
and like 80% of people had their phones
literally in front of them some people
even had their phones like propped up on
a little mug or little phone holdery
type thing on the side so they were
looking at their phone and were just
like glancing at their phones while
trying to allegedly do work and I was
like what the hell's going on these
people are in the British Library
supposed to be focused on their work and
they're just allowing this ridiculously
distracting device to be there right in
front of their face hitting them with
notification after notification after
notification now on this people always
like oh but like what if my kids have an
emergency I was like bro if your kids
have an emergency put their phone
numbers or put the number of the school
or the hospital whatever one of these
Focus mode exceptions also if someone
tries to ring you you can set it so that
phone calls go through you can set it so
that two phone calls in a row
automatically go through that's the
automatic setting like generally the
people that are getting distracted by
their phones pinging notifications it's
not actually life and death that's the
problem and it just amazes me how this
is just such an obvious thing that very
few people actually seem to do put your
phone face down get it out out of side
out of mind turn on a focus mode block
your notifications temporarily while
you're trying to focus as you can tell I
feel very strongly about this because
whenever I pull my audience about like
you know what's your biggest challenge
when comes to productivity like 40% of
people a huge number will say I struggle
to focus and it's like bro focus is is a
solved problem near eel has written a
book called indistractable about it Cal
Newport has written a book called Deep
work about it and also world a world
without email which is about combating
digital distractions there are literally
apps tools Focus modes built into your
device there are apps that help solve
this like why is this still a thing that
people struggle with obviously some
people have ADHD and addd but I don't
think 40% of my audience does I think a
lot of people are just not doing really
sensible obvious things that will help
you focus it like really annoys me when
I see this with my team as well my team
are always like oh we're so overwhelmed
or we're trying to do too much stuff
it's like okay but are you trying to
focus and do deep work while seeing
notifications all the time yes okay why
uh yeah good point I probably shouldn't
be doing that yeah it's like it's not
that hard guys come on we got this
focusing is not that hard provided we
don't allow the these apps that are
literally designed to addict us for as
long as possible to just keep on
bombarding us with notifications I feel
very strongly about this I'm going to
get off my soap box now let's move on
all right so our final category of tools
to help us Focus just a little bit
better is anything that can help our
work be more fun anything that makes our
work feel good is literally the thesis
of my book which you should check out if
you haven't already if we can find a way
to make our work feel good if we can
find a way to make it fun we are far
more likely to be focused you probably
don't struggle to focus when it comes to
playing video games you probably don't
struggle to focus when it comes to
watching a really good film but you
probably struggle to focus on work that
is boring it's always hard to focus on
work that's boring I struggle to focus
on work that's boring and I'm pretty
good at this productivity Focus stuff
having like researched it for 15 years
and written a book about it but I still
struggle when the work is really really
really boring so yes we can track our
time doing boring work yes we can find a
way to combat digital distractions but
really the single biggest needle mover
for work that is boring is trying to
find a way to make it a little bit more
fun so there are three PS play power and
people I talk about them in the first
three chapters of the book play power
and people play is basically how can we
find a way to turn our work into play to
approach it with lightness and ease in
the spirit of play one question you can
always ask yourself if you're struggling
to focus is what would this look like if
it were fun this is something I used to
have as a Post-It note on my desk I also
have it as a phone wallpaper put a link
down if you down below if you want to
download it for your phone for whatever
that's worth the question is what would
this look like if it were fun what would
doing my taxes look like if it were fun
what would reviewing our p&l for the
management accountants at everyone every
month look like it if it were fun what
would writing a discharge letter for a
patient in the hospital look like if it
were fun with a little bit of creativity
and Ingenuity we can always find ways to
make whatever we're doing just a little
bit more enjoyable to approach it more
in the spirit of play to make it a
little bit more fun that and there's
like six other experiments in the book
that you can check out if you want on
the note of play one thing I always find
helpful is background music we've talked
about this Hogwarts playlist Lord of the
Rings playlist having nice instrumental
background music is just by far for me
one of the biggest things that make work
feel a little bit more playful if I'm
ever doing something that's boring and I
don't have background music on I'm like
what am I doing it would just make this
more fun so depending on what it is I'll
change up the background music if I
really need to focus it'll be like Lord
of the Rings or Harry Potter if I'm
doing like boring admin it'll be music
with lyrics There's a bit more upbeat
cuz I don't need to focus that hard on
it I just need to get through the admin
but like I really find that music is an
incredibly helpful tool to make work a
little bit more fun next we come to
power power is the second P there's a
whole lot of stuff in power it's about
taking responsibility and taking
ownership of the process of the work
that you're doing and also about really
making your own progress more visible so
in World of Warcraft for example you
kill something and then your experience
bar goes up and over time as your
experience bar keeps on going up and up
and up you feel that sense of progress
and then you level up and then you build
more experience bar and you level up
again and the whole process repeats
itself and video game designers are
really good at helping you feel that
sense of progress this is incidentally
one of the things that make social media
apps so addictive that like you're like
oh how many likes can I rack up on this
particular thirst trap photo that I've
just posted on Instagram that game that
you're playing of like seeing seeing the
line go up seeing the number go up is
like incredibly addictive and so how can
we use that General philosophy and apply
it to the work that we want to focus on
if for example you're a writer often
writers will tend to track their word
count because if you track your word
count and you can see oh I did 500 Words
800 words 1,200 words today that feels
good you feel that doine release you
feel that sense of progress this is why
writing things on a to-do list and then
ticking them off feels really good
because you feel the dopamine hit of
like ticking the thing off you feel that
sense of progress and therefore you feel
that sense of power and then Everything
feels more fun again in the book there's
a bunch of more strategies if you want
to read the book um but basically the
question you want to ask yourself is
what is my equivalent of the writer's
word count how can I make progress feel
a little bit more visible to make my
work feel a little bit more fun and then
tool number three is the third P which
is people how can we tap into the power
of people who are around us I used to do
this if you guys know for a while if you
if you've been watching Channel I
actually used to document the process of
doing this when I was in medical school
which is I would work with my friends
I'd invite people over to my room or
we'd all go to the local library for
co-working and we would all work
together we're all working on different
things but the fact that we're together
makes the process more fun this is
something I'm doing as part of my new
productivity Community productivity lab
it's not launched yet depending on when
you're seeing this but the whole idea is
that this is sort of like an online
community for productivity enthusiasts
that will help you double your
productivity and focus and consistency
and one of the big ways we do that is we
have daily Zoom co-working sessions so
you just hop on a zoom call with other
people from around the world who are
interested in doing good things and if
you're watching my channel and you've
gotten to this point in the video you're
probably kind of weird uh in that and
you're probably a bit of a nerd in a in
a great way and you might not have that
many friends who are also into the same
stuff hopefully you do have friends but
maybe you're like more into personal
development than they are maybe you're
more into hustling a bit than your
friends are and so the point is that to
create some sort of community around you
of people who are interested in the same
stuff because then you can all work
together whether it's virtually or in
real life and productivity lab is that
Community for a bunch of people you can
check it out down below if you are
interested but broadly really we just
want to figure out what are the
different ways we can use to tap into
the energizing power of the people
around us and again that's one thing
that's basically guaranteed to make
whatever you're doing more enjoyable and
more energizing which is what allows you
to focus so this wraps up a bunch of
different tools that I use on a daily
basis to reduce distraction and improve
focus and this was actually the third
video in our three-part video series
about how to focus in case you've missed
the other videos in the series there
will be a playlist over here that starts
with the five mistakes that ruin
people's focus and then video number two
talks about five simple habits that you
can start applying to your life as
experiments to also increase your focus
that'll be right over there and if you
are interested in hearing more about my
book and you've not read it yet then
there's a video over here which is the
introduction of the book that explains
the whole philosophy of Feelgood
productivity so thank you so much for
watching I hope you enjoyed the video
and I'll see you later bye-bye
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